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Feb 5, 2013
02/13
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the obama administration and the justice department has refused to acknowledge if it exists. or should i say its existence or lack thereof is classified. but the times did report on its existence back in october 2011. and they filed their lawsuit back in 2011. and members of congress have also asked the obama administration to please release this memo. we know you think it's legal. why do you think it's legal? the closest anybody ever came to getting the attorney general to admit that this memo in fact exists was this very, very awkward moment caught on tape during a routine budget hearing back in march of 2012. >> i still want to see the office of legal counsel memorandum. and i would urge you to keep working on that. i realize it's a matter of some debate within the administration. >> that would be true. >> can i say that it would be true that there is debate about the hmmm. just last month, a federal judge named colleen mcmahon ruled on the lawsuit to release this memo. so they had filed a freedom of information request. they said no. they said okay, it's no longer a reque
the obama administration and the justice department has refused to acknowledge if it exists. or should i say its existence or lack thereof is classified. but the times did report on its existence back in october 2011. and they filed their lawsuit back in 2011. and members of congress have also asked the obama administration to please release this memo. we know you think it's legal. why do you think it's legal? the closest anybody ever came to getting the attorney general to admit that this memo...
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Feb 7, 2013
02/13
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legal reasoning for why the administration believes president obama has the power to order the killing of americans in counterterrorism strikes around the world. look at this. ever since anybody knew such a document existed, this is how the administration has been coping with requests to see this document. this is a letter from the justice department telling the aclu that they neither confirm nor deny the existence of the documents described in your request. quote, the fact -- excuse me -- the very fact of the existence or nonexistence of such diagnostics is itself classified. that's what they've been saying for more than a year. but now as of tonight, the administration admitted that that legal reasoning memo exists. the associated press first breaking the news late tonight. nbc news confirming it. the president has directed the justice department to give the memo to the intelligence committees in congress. it is the first time that this will have been seen outside the administration itself. now, the administration has openly in speeches and in public comments asserted that it believe
legal reasoning for why the administration believes president obama has the power to order the killing of americans in counterterrorism strikes around the world. look at this. ever since anybody knew such a document existed, this is how the administration has been coping with requests to see this document. this is a letter from the justice department telling the aclu that they neither confirm nor deny the existence of the documents described in your request. quote, the fact -- excuse me -- the...
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Feb 8, 2013
02/13
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joining us now is oregon democratic senator ron wyden, who has repeatedly asked the obama administration bower drone policy. senator wyden, it's good to see you. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me again. >> did you not in fact get what you had asked the president to give you and that you thought you would be getting this morning based on your conversation with the president last night? >> rachel, it's not clear. the fact is, and i went in first thing this morning, i was able to read some information that was helpful. i'm just not convinced yet that it is the full legal analysis that we need to do to do vigorous oversight. what today was really about is of course it was a nomination hearing for john brennan. but it ultimately was a question of upholding our system of checks and balances in government. and i think that system is out of whack these days and we've got to do some more for transparency and accountability in getting those checks and balances back. >> in terms of this specific program that you've been asking about the legal advice for, specifically targeting
joining us now is oregon democratic senator ron wyden, who has repeatedly asked the obama administration bower drone policy. senator wyden, it's good to see you. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me again. >> did you not in fact get what you had asked the president to give you and that you thought you would be getting this morning based on your conversation with the president last night? >> rachel, it's not clear. the fact is, and i went in first thing this...
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Feb 6, 2013
02/13
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but if he is to run the cia for president obama, john brennan is first going to have to face questions on thursday about some of what michael isikoff turned up here on this program last night. a justice department white paper elaborating the administration's reasoning for why it thinks it is legal to kill american citizens on the president's say so. or actually, on the say so of an informed high level official of the u.s. government. so maybe that's the president, but maybe that's somebody else. michael isikoff's scoop ended up at "the new york times" today and "the washington post" and "the hill" and slate and salon and ap to name a few. it was everywhere. and then at a press conference today, the attorney general was asked about it. >> last night nbc reported a white paper that was prepared by the justice department undated, unsigned about the legal -- the legal pinnacles for targeting americans overseas. could you please give us what the precise definition is and how that would be carried out? >> well, there have been a series of speeches that i gave, jay johnson gave, john brennan
but if he is to run the cia for president obama, john brennan is first going to have to face questions on thursday about some of what michael isikoff turned up here on this program last night. a justice department white paper elaborating the administration's reasoning for why it thinks it is legal to kill american citizens on the president's say so. or actually, on the say so of an informed high level official of the u.s. government. so maybe that's the president, but maybe that's somebody...
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Feb 6, 2013
02/13
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now a bipartisan group of 11 senators has written to president obama asking him to release about what is still secret about why the president and the administration think it is legal to kill americans this way. quote, it is vitally for congress and the american public to have a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets the limits and bound relatives this authority so that congress and the public can decide whether this authority has been properly defined and whether the president's power to deliberately kill american citizens is subject to appropriate limitations and safeguards. honestly, in the real world, particularly in the real political world, there is some compunction, but very little compunction about the president using extreme counterterrorism measures. the president using lethal force against bad guys. in the case against the american whose killing seems to have inspired a lot of the secret legal reasoning, the case against anwar al awlaki doesn't seem to tug at the heart strings. adds a senior recruiter for al qaeda he was associated with the mass shooting a
now a bipartisan group of 11 senators has written to president obama asking him to release about what is still secret about why the president and the administration think it is legal to kill americans this way. quote, it is vitally for congress and the american public to have a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets the limits and bound relatives this authority so that congress and the public can decide whether this authority has been properly defined and whether the...
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Feb 2, 2013
02/13
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we know that's a goal of the obama administration. it may be their most ambitious goal. they haven't made much progress toward it, even with somebody as high profile as hillary clinton being in that job. will john kerry being there have the opportunity for them to go forward? >> i'm so glad you played that clip, because i thought that line was so powerful and important. how far we are institutionally and the sea process inside the white house and the relative weight of defense in state. >> yes. >> and i think the single most important thing to getting us here is something you have written about a tremendous amount which is we need to as a country declare our state of war over. as long as we are in an active state of war, the center of gravity will be with the war machine, will be with the war planners, will be with the pentagon. it is only when the nation views itself as being at peace that diplomacy can take some kind of equal footing. until we get to place where we do something as dramatic as repealing or refusing to reauthorize, the authorization of the use of militar
we know that's a goal of the obama administration. it may be their most ambitious goal. they haven't made much progress toward it, even with somebody as high profile as hillary clinton being in that job. will john kerry being there have the opportunity for them to go forward? >> i'm so glad you played that clip, because i thought that line was so powerful and important. how far we are institutionally and the sea process inside the white house and the relative weight of defense in state....